You are here:

Study Finds Cannabis Use May Benefit Heart Failure Patients

In an unpublished study presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions meeting in Anaheim, California, held this month, researchers found a possible link between cannabis use and decreased risk for arterial fibrillation in patients with heart failure.

Additionally, death rates for cannabis-using hospitalized heart failure patients were lower than for those who did not use cannabis, said LiveScience.com.

Researchers did not recommend cannabis use and said that further research on the effects of cannabis use on patients with heart disease is needed. Lead study author Dr. Oluwole Adegbala said the results of the study were surprising because researchers hypothesized the opposite conclusion, or that cannabis use would result in greater risks for heart failure patients.

Researchers analyzed patient database information for six million heart failure patients hospitalized between 2007 and 2014. Of those six million, little more than 24,000 patients admitted marijuana use, with 1,200 of those reporting chronic